Fool's Kiss
by TaciteMuse
Summary: Here's a piece of advice, from one woman to another.


**Title:** Fool's Kiss  
**Rating:** T  
**F.type:** OneShot  
**Summary:** Here's a piece of advice, from one woman to another.

A chance for me to try writing more of Sam's character in a different setting, and practice for longer pieces.

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**-Fool's Kiss-  
**OneShot

It was really **too **early in the morning to be up.

Samantha Carter, Major in the US Air Force, brainac extraordinaire in the field of astrophysics, and pride of the SGC, mumbled something incoherent and rolled over in bed. Wrapped in the comfy embrace of a well-loved sweatshirt and tucked under the warm blanket, she could have, at that moment, died happy. The drowsy feeling of peace lingered even as she blinked, trying to get the alarm clock on the nightstand to focus.

_Eleven o'clock?_

…well, early if you had 'gate lag.

"Mmm… phfft." Blowing wisps of hair out of her face, she flipped the cover back and swung her legs out of the bed, finding her way automatically down to the coffee pot.

_No **wonder **Daniel's addicted to this stuff._ She thought contentedly as she sipped the hot brew. While it didn't have the kick of SGC's muck (courtesy of one Captain Klein, who had recently introduced the base to his 'special ingredient' that worked wonders for a body) it was certainly better than most of the stuff she had tasted over the years.

"Mmumph." Still holding the coffee mug, Sam located and shuffled into her slippers, which were fluffy, pink, and distinctively bunny-like. An old Christmas gift from a friend long forgotten, the padding had been molded to fit her feet perfectly, and they were warm enough to keep out the worst of the Colorado winter chill.

Having accomplished this, she paused and considered her options. The Colonel had forbidden her to return to the base until Monday, and knowing him, he'd informed the entire airmen staff to keep her out. If she showed up now, she'd get a polite 'Sorry ma'am, orders are orders' and be turned away. Not that she blamed them; the fear of Colonel O'Neill's wrath was burned deep into each and every one.

So that left working from home- which was impossible, because the vast majority of the things she needed were classified at **least **top-secret, and therefore impossible to casually bring home. The student research papers that one of her former professors had e-mailed her, asking her opinion, were sitting next to the keyboard and waiting patiently for attention. Which, of course, they'd get once she managed to stop laughing and actually write down some comments.

Publishing a paper to the scientific community would be a worthy use of her time- but then she'd have to explain where she had done her experiments, or what proof she had, and she couldn't just say 'It's classified' and expect them to dismiss it. No, these were hard core theorists and such an action would prompt them to either get arrested for trying to find out what the hell she was talking about or ostracize her from their elite 'clique'.

_And while I know that I have the SGC to fall back on, I'm not quite ready to take that step._ Sam mused, wondering how Daniel had felt before revealing his (at the time) ridiculous theory to his own colleagues. Then, he hadn't had anything to go to if his opinion backfired on him.

No, that really just left… lazing around. Not that Sam 'lazed'. She... relaxed for large quantities of time with the goal of releasing tension.

**Large **quantities being defined as… five or so minutes.

_Mark would tell me to get a life._ 'Book Club', he'd say, pulling on his wife's experiences; 'or what about Bunko? Sam, you have to do **something **with yourself other than **work work work**.' And while she appreciated his suggestions, Kate was a very, **very **different person than Sam.

So, for the lack of anything else to do, she drifted to the back door and unlocked it, planning to sit on the hammock swing-seat and spend some quality time with Nature. _Or something like that_.

'Sniff'

Halfway out the sliding glass door, Sam froze. There was someone on her deck, and if she was hearing things right (_which, you know, could be wrong thanks to all those **lovely **little screaming bugs we encountered on the last mission)_ he/she was…. crying?

'Sniff'

Every nerve shifted from 'neutral' to 'mission' gear instantaneously. That reaction, at least, was one benefit of going on life-threatening missions daily. She considered putting the mug down, but the noise could alert her intruder to her presence, and while she doubted that whoever was there wanted to **hurt **her, she had learned the hard way you could never know.

_Besides, it could make a good weapon._ She eyed the yellow porcelain with a calculating eye, guessing that a good blow over the head would provide her with a decent opportunity to use the hand-to-hand skills drilled into her by her teammates.

Slowly, cautiously, Sam edged out onto the wooden deck. The noise was definitely coming from her hammock seat, and she felt a brief flare of indignation at that realization. _That is **my **chair, thank you!_ Another half-step and the mysterious figure came into view around the corner.

"Cassie?" Instant concern replaced her battle-ready high and she frowned slightly, moving towards the young woman. The red-head was swinging the chair slowly, misery written in every line on her face. The tears creeping down the freckled cheeks only added to the almost pitiful air around her.

It was also clear that wherever Cassie **had **been, she had left in a hurry. The thin sweatshirt and pants looked barely able to keep out a breeze, let alone the colder winds that winter brought along. For a lack of tissues, she was sniffling into the sleeve of the navy blue sweatshirt, bare feet pushing against the railing with the least amount of effort necessary to make the chair swing. In fact, Sam would have guessed that Cassie had just rolled out of bed and come here- for whatever reason.

She stopped sniffling and blinked, looking up at Sam. The older woman, worried now by Cassie's unexpected arrival and obvious misery, took a seat on the swing next to her.

"What's wrong, Cassie?" This prompted a muffled wail and she was abruptly embraced by her almost-daughter, who had begun to sob out strangled words in a tale that upset her further.

"Cas, I can't understand you- okay, okay, ssh, shh… ssh, shh…"

Ten minutes later Sam had coaxed the whole story out of the crying young woman; apparently her first serious relationship had ended very badly, with Cassie actually finding her boyfriend in bed with her biggest 'enemy', or such as there was in college. It had turned out that the entire reason why 'Mike' had begun dating her was to win a bet with his friends.

Unfortunately, she couldn't tell Cassie that it would never happen to her again, or that most of the men she would meet and possibly love wouldn't be like that. Instead, she let the silence settle into a comforting one, thinking about what she could possibly tell the heart-broken young woman.

_Well, besides 'accidentally' dropping the story to the other three and waiting to see how long it takes them to find and deal with this Mike character…_ Admittedly, it would be unfair (though funny) because no college student, however cocky or proud, would be able to stand up to Jack and Teal'c. And of course Daniel had been getting pretty buffed lately, but he would be more likely to make the whole deal public and let the campus pass it's own judgment on 'Mike'. And, knowing what colleges were like, that might be going a bit too far.

_Ah hah! Got it._ Sam turned to look Cassie in the eyes, letting a conspiratorial smile steal across her lips.

"You know what?"

Her young companion shook her head, meeting Sam's earnest eyes after a moment.

"What?"

"You can **kiss **a fool, and you can let a **fool **kiss you, but you should never let a **kiss **fool you." And when Cas laughed, getting back a bit of her lost spirit, Sam grinned and swung the chair higher.

Later, when the tears were finally dry, and the sun had risen a bit higher, she'd suggest going shopping. Knowing Cas, the offer would be taken up in a heartbeat, and they'd spend the rest of the weekend watching movies, talking, and generally indulging their girl sides.

_Mmm, life is good._

the end _  
_


End file.
